Shouzou and Ine Saitou have been happily married for as long as they can remember. Even in their old age with wrinkles and cracking limbs, the strength of this love is evident by their precious bond. And then, randomly one day, they wake up to find they are young again!
Jiisan Baasan Wakagaeru (じいさんばあさん若返る, "Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again") is a Japanese Slice of Life manga series written and illustrated by Kagiri Araido. First posted on the mangaka's Twitter and Pixiv accounts on October 26, 2019, it soon entered serialization with Media Factory, with the first volume hitting shelves on June 22, 2020 and a total of eight volumes planned overall.
An anime television series adaptation was announced by Kadokawa on August 9, 2023
and began airing on April 7, 2024.
Jiisan Baasan Wakagaeru provides examples of:
- Bluff the Impostor: Ine gets a call from presumably her "son Yoshiaki" who's asking for 20,000 yen. She is seen recording the call and writing down what he's saying until she says "I know you're not my son, but—-". The scam artist on the other line realizes he's been played with, and turns himself in. Ine notes anyone calling at 6 in the evening is suspicious.
- Born in the Wrong Century: Downplayed. While both Jiisan and Baasan are in certain respects a product of their time, they're also revealed to have fit in much more in the 21st Century back in their youth.
- Brought Down to Badass: When Jiisan finds himself back to his original elderly appearance, it's quickly discovered that he still has some physical capabilities intact.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: As Jiisan tells his granddaughter, marrying for love was highly unusual when he was a young man, back when arranged marriages and such were much more common.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Shouzou and Ine Saitou are almost always referred to as Jiisan ("Grandpa") and Baasan ("Grandma") respectively, even if it's between the two of them.
- Former Teen Rebel: Baasan in her youth was a tomboyish Violently Protective Girlfriend compared to the Yamato Nadeshiko façade of her later years.
- Fountain of Youth: It's so far not explained exactly how or why they became young again, only that one day, they just were. The only visible sign of their true age left is their grey hair. It’s eventually revealed that the reversion has something to do with an odd hourglass both Ine and Shouzou saw in their dreams. By flipping it, they can switch between their true ages and their younger forms. However, what exactly the Hourglass is has not been revealed.
- Happily Married: Jiisan and Baasan, who've been each other's beloved for so long that they don't mind growing old together again.
- I Was Quite a Looker: As it turns out, both of them were this in their actual youth, if their rejuvenated forms are anything to go by.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Elderly characters, especially the older versions of the protagonists, are drawn far more realistically, which makes them stand out compared to the more conventional anime designs of everyone else.
- Silver Fox: After Shouzou and Ine regain their youth, they both suddenly drew attention in their community and family members. As such, they still retain their white-grayish hairs and voice, but this doesn't stop anyone from being attracted to them.
- Slice of Life: The manga is less about what made two elderly characters young again and more about their day to day lives.
- Weirdness Censor: While Jiisan and Baasan's rejuvenation shocks their family, their elderly friends in the village quickly get so used to the sight that they treat it as normal.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: A real concern of Ine and Shozou. While they certainly appreciate their regained youth, they have the understandable fear of outliving their children and grandchildren, as well as potentially each other. Which makes the discovery that the Hourglass apparently has an ever decreasing amount of sand a relief for the couple, as it means that even with the gift of their youth, they will likely not outlive their family, or each other.
